On Rita

Houston is the 4th largest city in the entire United States. The neighborhoods that flood the worst are the poor areas, but that doesn’t sound like it’ll matter with the magnitude of this hurricane heading to my home of 20 years. My parents have been on the road for 10 hours now and haven’t made it out of the city yet. Many other members of my family are staying, along with my Grandmother who is too sick to travel. After Katrina there was a rush of people metasearches and directories, NOW would be a good time for Amazon, Yahoo, Google, and the other giants to pool their resources and get the infrastructure in place to help before it hits. This one is hitting much closer to home for me, it’s hard to think about.

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17 thoughts on “On Rita”

I’ve been thinking about you and your parents, Matt. I didn’t know you had other family there; I can’t imagine what it must be like to have loved ones in the projected path and know that they can’t leave.

I hope everyone comes out the other side of this safe and sound. Hang in there.

My thoughts are with you and your family, along with all the others in Rita’s path. It’s hard to watch this happening again so soon after Katrina, but I can’t begin to imagine how hard it must be for you and yours. Hang in there.

Yikes. Hope your grandmother’s house is on high ground. Thankfully between the famous storm that hit Galveston, and Katrina, people are (hopefully) smart enough to run and not look back, which should save _many_ lives. And for those who don’t/can’t to take it seriously and use every precausion possible.

Let us know how things turn out. Hopefully everything will be ok. Houston thankfully is slightly inland (with Galveston which is what the rest of the world knows as a “barrier island” for good reason). Galveston may be the sacrificial lamb (again), and take the biggest hit with flooding. Living on a barrier island is beautiful but dangerous.

One of the biggest problems with New Orleans is that the marsh area south of the city has rapidly deteriorated over the past 50years (mainly due to boat paths dug for oil purposes). That barrier which was destroyed was good protection for the city. It wouldn’t have prevented all the damage, but would have cut down on some of the flooding. Ecologists warned about that problem for years (and sadly nobody listened until the day after Katrina).

Hey Matt, I don’t know what part of Houston you are from but I’m glad to hear your family is making their way out. My dad and one of my younger brothers stayed behind to watch after the house while my mom and my youngest brother are headed to west Texas to stay with me. In a total of 18 hours they were able to go from south Houston to near Temple, around 200 miles. The sad part is that they had to go south just to go northwest.

Thank goodness – the people who stayed behind in Houston may be well and safe since Rita moved East. Your parents still did the right thing in leaving. Sadly there are so many people in Houston/Texas in general. I probably would have been one of the “turn-arounds” – THEN Rita would have hit Houston “head-on”

I heard this date that IF you’ve donated for Katrina that those funds can not be used for any other problems that arise (i.e. Rita) – so as you donate – remember not to designate any particular disaster. OR – maybe, if you donated to Katrina and want to specifically donate to Rita – be sure to say so.

Praying for and helping each other is greatly in need especially in times like this. Let’s remember that we need one another to rely on. My wonderful, loving husband, Sam is volunteering for FEMA, dispatched out at Birmingham & Montgomery, AL inspecting temporary housing sites around the state parks for victims now. He’s talked to Hurrican Katrina’s victims from Houston (being transported out) and says it’s overwhelming to comprehend the devastations that victims feel. Praying for your family and all in Houston area. Good Luck and May Our Lord Christ give you strength.